Friday, 5 July 2013

Written by Jake Ward

I found most surreal,
riveting and uniquely diverse about National Theatre Connections is discovering
the links that it makes between all aspects of the theatre industry. We were
given an amazingly rare opportunity as young people to work alongside up and
coming playwrights, with the support and platform from a prestigious theatre
like the National placing us at the heart of the creation of contemporary theatre.Connections is so forward-thinking as it is a
collaboration of young people, arts venues and staff, playwrights, directors, designers
and technical teams, combining a variety of skills and experience to allow us
to creatively take part in an opportunity that brings new pieces of writing to
life.

I believe that what makes NT
Connections even more exciting is the idea that texts can be performed in
different dialects and interpreted and explored in different ways across the
whole of the UK. This means that the Festival and the plays written for it act
as a universal connection between all young people, as they explore relevant
issues and themes, irrespective of who we are or where we live. This highlights
that theatre is so important for young people, enabling us to express ourselves
and actively take part in what is going on around us.

When rehearsing the play, what
was immediately evident was the importance of an ensemble, giving the whole
process a professional and realistic feel. This ranged from exercises which
brought us together as a company, observing, learning from one another and offering
constructive criticism, and working with our director to interpret the script
and characters, and offer our own ideas. Rehearsals where all about exploring,
and both physically and emotionally creating depth to the characters, whilst
always developing and testing out character relationships and different
interpretations to keep the piece engaging, energetic and fresh each time we
performed it. Due to the complexity and difficulty of the varying
interpretations of the characters and dialogue, we were continuously pushing
ourselves; getting up and trying new things in order to allow the performance
to progress and grow.

What I found most rewarding and
challenging was exploring the layers to the characters and the language in the
play. The story, although only one hour long, sees characters all experience
their own individual journeys. It was important that we allowed ourselves to go
on this journey and find out about all the different layers to our characters.

Moving the play from the
rehearsal room to the Royal stage, and then into The Shed, has encouraged us to
think carefully about the movement in the space and our character
relationships. When performing it in The Shed at the National Theatre I know it
will be an exciting climax to the Festival – a showcase to the UK of what has
been achieved when young people, playwrights, venues and their teams, all come
together and make inspiring and amazing Connections.

Jake Ward played Elijah in We Lost Elijah by Ryan Craig on Friday 5 July, The Shed, National Theatre